In 1993, Utley left NBC to be the chief foreign correspondent for ABC News . He then later served as a reporter for CNN from 1997 to 2002.

“He was an imposing figure physically,” Matt Lauer said of Utley Friday on “Today.” “He was a big, big guy but also intellectually, he was a smart, smart man.”

“I worked with him on weekend “Today” — he was a funny guy, he had a wonderful sense of humor, he was also an adjunct professor at SUNY Oswego,” Al Roker explained. “He was a talented, talented man, few people know he wanted to be a country singer.”

In an email from NBC, legendary news anchor Tom Brokaw said of his late colleague: “Garrick embodied the history of NBC News for most of the latter half of the 20th Century and he will be greatly missed.”

Watch the “Today” show announce Utley’s death on Friday’s show below:

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